


Give it a chance

by Varioustrashyficdump



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 14:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4610430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varioustrashyficdump/pseuds/Varioustrashyficdump
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The training camp continues, with Karasuno still struggling to win any matches. Tsukishima is struggling with other things, namely Kuroo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give it a chance

It was evening. The sound of sneakers squeaking echoed throughout the gymnasium as various practice volleyball matches went on. Ignoring his pride, Kei hesitantly decided to seek help with his blocking from Bokuto and Kuroo. This was the third night he attended practice with those two obnoxious captains, and each day was proving to be more taxing on his patience than on his body. He was pretty impressed with how skilled each of them were, especially Bokuto's unbelievable spiking power. Despite that, Kuroo looked as though he could block Bokuto with ease. This continued to prove true as Kei witnessed Kuroo block another one of Bokuto's spikes, causing him to stomp in frustration all over the court while Kuroo snickered.

"Dammit! I'll get it past you, just you wait!" Bokuto shouted, shaking his fists.

"Bokuto-san, please calm down. You'll get him to slip up eventually." Akashi patted Bokuto's shoulder to reassure him, because his uninterested tone definitely wouldn't. However, Akashi knew Bokuto better than anyone else on Fukurodani, so dealing with his exuberant captain became routine.

Kuroo continued to sneer and gloat. "As much as I'd love to continue showing you up, it's getting pretty late. How about we wrap it up for tonight? What do you think, Tsukki?"

Kei winced at the nickname, even though he sometimes let it slip when Yamaguchi called him that. "I'm fine with stopping for tonight. And don't call me that."

Everyone else in the gym began to wrap up practice for the night, putting away volleyballs and scrubbing the floors clean. In the distance, Kei could hear Hinata and Kageyama shouting at each other to see who could clean the fastest. Kei shook his head in disgust; didn't they know when to quit? Before he knew it, both of them ran past him unbelievably fast with mops in hand. Hinata lost his footing and then proceeded to slam into the nearest wall. Kei and several others couldn't help but burst into fits of crazed laughter. They might be loud, but at least they could provide Kei with amusement often enough. Any chance those two embarassed themselves (which happened far too often), it was hard to resist patronizing them.

The gym was clearing out about half an hour later, with members from the other teams bidding each other good night and heading to their rooms for a shower and a good night's sleep to ready themselves for the next day's session. Just as Kei was leaving the gym to head back to the large room he had shared with the rest of Karasuno, he found Kuroo standing in his path a couple of feet away.

"Hey, Tsukki! Wait just a second." Kuroo beckoned him to come closer.

What could he possibly want now? Kei was tired, and had just about enough interaction with this smart-ass of a captain.

"I appreciate all of the help you and Bokuto-san have given me with training, but I think I've had enough excitement for one day. If you'll excu-"

"Hey, wait just a second. I'm not looking to lecture you or anything. Practice can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I just wanted to talk to you for a bit."

Kei cocked his eyebrow. To talk? "Can't it wait until morning?"

"No," Kuroo said, sporting a wide devilish grin that made Kei feel a twinge of annoyance. "Come on, you can't be too tired to indulge this considerate captain with a bit of your time, can you?"

As much as Kei wanted to shrug him off, Kuroo did have a poing. It was particularly nice of them both to devote their time to helping him improve his blocking. Maybe listening to what Kuroo had to say would'nt kill him. "Tch, fine. What did you want to talk about, Kuroo-san?"

"You don't have to be so formal, just Kuroo is fine, Tsukki."

"And just Tsukishima is fine, if you wouldn't mind."

"Oh but of course. Tsukki, come follow me!" _No surprise there._ Kuroo grabbed Kei by the wrist and pulled him along. He led Kei to an area where there were several benches and tables. The rest of the teams were back in their rooms getting ready for bed, so the only sounds Kei could hear were their own feet moving through the damp grass. There must have been a light rain recently because most of the benches were covered in light droplets of water. Kuroo inspected all of them carefully until he finally found one that was dry enough for them to sit on.

Kuroo sat down and patted the seat next to him, encouraging Kei to join him. Kei sat, although not as close as Kuroo had suggested. He wasn't about to give Kuroo's already overinflated ego any more pampering.

"So, Kuroo, what did you want to talk about?"

Kuroo looked at Kei, but then opted to stare into his own hands for what felt like minutes. He looked like he was having trouble thinking of a response. After taking a sharp inhale of breath, Kuroo started.

"First of all, I wanted to apologize for before. You know, for being a bit of an ass. I told your captain to tell you I was sorry, but I figured it would be better to do it in person. I just wanted to get a rise out of you. I can see so much potential in you and it would be foolish for you to let it all go to waste. But now, it looks like something inside you is starting to change."

Kei felt a small sense of pride building within, and let the weight of Kuroo's sincerity seep into his brain. _This was...unexpected._

"I didn't think you would be the type to apologize ."

"Aww, that's mean! I really am a nice guy, Tsukki!" Kuroo looked like he meant every word of that response, but still couldn't help but smirk brazenly at him, reminding Kei that this was the same asshole that told him he sucks at volleyball.

Kuroo paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, then continued. "I'd like to think my taunting helped light a fire in you, didn't it? You're looking more enthusiastic every day, whether you've noticed it or not."

How could he forget? That was the first time in a what felt like ages that Kei felt such an uncontrollable desire to rise above and beyond expectations. "I admit, what you said got gave me a newfound determination to train harder. That, and my friend gave me a good wake up call. Yamaguchi can get pretty loud, I suppose. He may have called me pathetic, but you know what? He wasn't wrong."

A few long moments passed. The silence between them was beginning to thicken. Kei was waiting for Kuroo to laugh at him, to mock him. Frankly, he didn't care if he did. But he expected it, preparing for anything Kuroo could possibly throw at him. And then finally, Kuroo spoke.

"You're very lucky, you know that."

"Huh?"

"To have a good friend that can knock some sense into you, Tsukki!"

"...I suppose that I am. Wait a second, I thought you were going to-"

"What, make fun of you? I would never! I mean, there was that bit earlier where I said that you suck at blocking but, that was for your benefit!"

Kei rolled his eyes. "Why thank you so much, I should kiss your ass for being so generous to me."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't already. But if you still want to, I wouldn't mind." Kuroo raised his eyebrows while wearing his usual cocky grin. "But anyway, he's a good kid. You two are going to need to rely on each other in the next couple of weeks. Be each other's strength. Like Kenma and I."

"Oh yeah?" Kei remembered what it was like to face off against Nekoma at the previous game. The teamwork those two demonstrated was so fluid and natural, like a well-oiled machine. "Kozume-san must be a pretty good guy if he can put up with you on a regular basis."

Kuroo pretended to wince in pain at Kei's remark. "Awww, there you go again trying to hurt my feelings. You have such a way with words."

"Tch. If you don't have anything else to say, I think I'll see myself off." Kei was about to lift himself out of his seat when Kuroo firmly grabbed his wrist.

"Tsukki, wait. I want to talk more."

"What about?"

"About you, of course! I wanna get to know you more, Tsukki. I'm interested in you."

Kei felt the blood rush to his cheeks. _Where did that even come from?_ Kuroo might have been the type to push people's buttons pretty far but this, Kei felt, might have been going a little too far. "That's a bit forward, don't you think? Why do you want to know more about me? And in what way are you interested?"

Kuroo just shrugged, as if he didn't even know the reason himself. "You're fun to be around. You definitely don't ease up on your insults, but I like your feisty attitude. And you're pretty intelligent. As for 'in what way', well..."

"What?" Kei prodded, hoping he'd hurry up and get to the point. Kei felt his nerves piling on top of each other, and sweat had begun to form on the back of his neck. _No, this couldn't be what I think it is..._

"I like you."

Every voice in Kei's head was screaming in horror. He had no idea that anything like this would happen. Kuroo...liked him? As in, Kuroo Tetsurou had a crush on Tsukishima Kei? If this was some kind of joke, there was no way in hell it was even remotely funny.

"You... like me?"

"Well, yeah. I do. I like you, Tsukki. A lot. That's the real reason I called you out here." Kuroo then exhaled loudly into the air, as if a crushing weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders.

There were no words. Kei predicted at some point in his life that he would get confessed to by a girl. He had an idea of what would happen: accepting or rejecting her feelings. However, Kei never expected to get confessed to by a guy. By his rival team's captain. By Kuroo. Where would Kei even begin? He had never really expressed much interest or attraction when it came to girls. All of the younger guys in his classes would talk about how much they couldn't wait to finally get girlfriends, like it was something on a checklist that all young men their age had to accomplish before going to college. Tanaka and Nishinoya were prime examples.

After the initial shock wore off, Kei finally spoke. "I've never been confessed to before. This is entirely new for me, and I'm not sure how I feel. I never thought I'd get confessed to by a guy. And it had to be you, of all people."

"Oh really? That's kinda surprising to me. You're such a catch, though! I already assumed you would've had a few girls begging you to go out with them by now." Kuroo looked at Kei's blank expression for any remote sign of laughter. When none came, he continued. "But, I guess that's unimportant right now. Look, I really mean what I said. I like you a lot, and wanted to know if you felt the same. We may not have spent a lot of time together, so I would understand if you said no. You don't have to answer right away, Tsukki."

Kei could have just said no right then and there, and that would be the end of it. But, he didn't want to. There was no way he could say yes either, what with it being completely out of nowhere. With no other options, Kei decided to give Kuroo's confession some time to reflect on. "Alright, you win. I'll give this some thought."

Kuroo's eyes widened. "Really?! I'm so happy to hear you say that, Tsukki."

"Keep calling me that and it's gonna be a hell of a lot easier to make my decision," Kei grumbled, his response full of disgust.

Kuroo snickered. "Fair enough."

Despite Kei's bitter tone, he felt lost, like his own train of thought was spinning wildly out of control--all thanks to Kuroo. Before he could even begin to wrap his thoughts around Kuroo's words, he felt an arm fling around his shoulder and pull him up out of his seat. "Anyway, I think that's enough for tonight. I'm ready to pass out right about now, and I'm sure you feel the same, Tsukki. Bokuto and I aren't going to show you any mercy tomorrow, so you'd better be ready!" And like that, Kuroo was leading Kei back to the room the rest of Karasuno's team was staying in.

They both stood outside of the room, with Kuroo still happily draped over Kei's shoulder. "Take your time, alright?" Kuroo's face was awfully close to his own, and Kei felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.

"Will do. And could you not stand so close?" Kei took the palm of his hand and firmly pushed Kuroo's giddy face away from his own.

"Aww, you don't want a kiss goodnight?" Kuroo puckered his lips as overly flirtatious as possible.

"Tch, go back to your room before I change my mind!" After the sudden predicament Kuroo had put him in, however, he couldn't help but enjoy Kuroo's childish behavior a bit. He wouldn't dare let Kuroo know that, though.

"Heh. Goodnight, Tsukki!" Kuroo gave Kei a warm smile, and just like that all of Kei's annoyance faded away, and was replaced with a light flush on his cheeks.

"Goodnight, idiot."

Kei watched as Kuroo walked back to his team's room, his figure becoming smaller and more distant all too slowly. He tiptoed back into his room with the rest of his team. Most of them were asleep, while some were still getting ready for bed after just getting back from the shower. Tanaka was snoring loudly, while Nishinoya had somehow managed to do a complete 180 and found himself sleeping next to Tanaka's feet. As he was about to crawl onto his spot next to Yamaguchi, who was already slumbering peacefully, Kei remembered how he was still soaked in sweat, deciding that there was no way in hell he was going to sleep like this. Grabbing a towel and a clean pair of pajamas, Kei made his way to the shared bath.

Thoughts of Kuroo relentlessly pooled into his head. That one sentence kept replaying over and over. " _I like you._ " _Tch. Maybe after a hot bath, I can think straight._

If only it were that easy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thinking straight, or you know, thinking gay ( ͡º ͜ʖ ͡º) I hope you guys liked this! It's my first fanfiction and I plan to write more chapters for this series whenever I get time! I love these snarky assholes so much, and them as a pairing means so much to me. Let me know what you think in the comments! Also I had to keep re-editing this because it was my first submission, but I got this now!


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